I harvested a box of honey from one of my hives, and is in the process of manually extracting honey from the combs. This is the earliest that I have removed honey from my hives. Usually, September is the month for this task. I am happy, though, that I am able to harvest, this soon. I had no honey crop, in 2025, due to a late start in the season (early May, instead of mid-April), due to a freak February snowstorm in the Gulf States, that delayed package honeybee shipments, a few weeks. To a beekeeper, a two or 3 week delay, is significant. Also, another contributing factor to not getting a crop, was mid-late summer drought, which reduced area nectar foraging, because wildflowers dried up. This year, however, brought a normal start time, as well as adequate rainfall, up to the present. At least, if the end of summer ends dry, I am glad that I was able to get a 2026 honey crop.


The CROCOSMIA or Montbretia 'Lucifer' is blooming. This plant was once thought to be tender in z6, and the corms needed to be dug, and stored indoors, over the winter. However, these have been in the ground for years, and have always returned (even after winters, like the one we had this year, that brought a -10F minimum):


https://photos.app.goo.gl/tAebLy1GkFUnZY869



It's time for the mophead HYDRANGEAS to bloom. This one is of the 'Annabelle' cultivar. I generally spray developing flower heads, when they reach dime-size, with a homemade gibberellic acid spray. This makes the flower heads get even larger, to approach a foot across:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/wfNvkwbFtEDJrXuZ8

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4BQJH6NG66daoyy27



New foliage on the MEXICAN MOCK ORANGE 'Sundance':


https://photos.app.goo.gl/CaGBWRxVCWcHJ1z68



HOLLYHOCKS are blooming! This one was named after the "red planet", and is called, 'Mars Magic' :



https://photos.app.goo.gl/yDqpM3SWVViKP5dH9



Olive Oyl, from Popeye cartoons, had a baby she named after the fragrant, annual form of this flower. Guess the baby's name, and you'll guess the flower:



https://photos.app.goo.gl/2YmiBK78C4p69HNR8



Usually, when one thinks about hardy CYCLAMEN, we think of a plant that blooms in early fall. However, this one blooms in mid-summer. This type is known botanically, as Cyclamen purpurascens:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/3vaJkaTeeCzrqsRn7



MILKWEED or Asclepias syriaca is blooming! However, as you can see...NO MONARCH BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS on the leaves!
Monarchs lay eggs on this plant, almost solely. They are getting harder and harder to find:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/c9b9kiES5Q43cQ8W7



MEXICAN PETUNIA or Ruellia elegans, is blooming. The cultivar of this one is 'Ragin' Cagin'...


https://photos.app.goo.gl/hpnE93Md5xWxjQgn9



Here is a new, edible BANANA plant I got. The variety is 'Dwarf Cavendish":


https://photos.app.goo.gl/BiNXmewh5PhnnutPA



This type of HARDY EVERGREEN BAMBOO is commonly known as FOUNTAIN BAMBOO, due to the arching form the culms take. The species is Fargesia nitida. This was grown from seed that the momma plant dropped, before she died, about a decade ago. Fountain bamboo is a clumping form, as opposed to a runner. So, no need to sink barriers into the ground, to contain these plants. I estimate the plants to be about 7-8 ft tall:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/d738xgez6k5n5Mya6



GOLDEN PRIVET or Ligustrum vicaryi, is blooming. Black berries show in fall:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/gj6SZR4BUGTqzkkN7



BEAUTY BUSH or Callicarpa americana, is blooming. These flowers will become purple berries, in fall:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/UbchDCZUv4RoP1k38



The Hybrid BAUHINIA is beginning to bloom!
This one's parents are: B. tomentosa and B. natalensis:



https://photos.app.goo.gl/vrSpvobhU6wKViZ3A



New leaves are forming on the WAX JAMBU. For anyone unfamiliar with this plant, it is a tropical fruit tree:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/U2GAWXqY2gBpaV687



The RAIN LILY is blooming. These overwinter indoors, dry, over the winter. They bloom during wet weather, in summer:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/PxgW4NRfyHzxpGkc8